Bottled water dispensers are usually arranged to receive the neck of an inverted bottle filled with clean water. Sometimes, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,188 and WO 90/03919 for example, the bottle is provided with a cap through which a feed tube is inserted to discharge the water from the bottle into one or more reservoirs inside the dispenser. The water in the respective reservoir may then be heated, cooled or carbonated for example, from whence the water can be drawn via a discharge valve.
There is currently a requirement to maintain strict hygiene in water dispensers. In the majority of water dispensers the reservoir and other components which come into contact with the water are sterilised in situ. This is a difficult task which is not always carried out as thoroughly as it should be.
Considering the discharge valve in particular, this can pose a potential source of contamination since the valve outlet is often disposed in a position which allows direct hand contact by users. Removal of the valves for sterilisation would be a time-consuming operation.
An aim of the present invention may be viewed as being to improve the hygiene of such dispensers.